Why You'll Soon Be Hearing the 'Happy Birthday' Song a Lot More

Ever wonder why some TV shows, movies, and even chain restaurants make up their own songs to celebrate birthdays? It's not creative license—it's a matter of cold, hard cash. Up until this week, anyone who wanted to publicly perform "Happy Birthday to You" was legally obligated to pay up.

Variety reports that yesterday a federal judge ruled against Warner/Chappell Music, which claimed to have a copyright on "Happy Birthday to You," now the most popular song in the English language. Previously, people had to pay up to six figures to get a license to use the song, helping the label rake in up to two million dollars a year.

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The plaintiff in the case was Jennifer Nelson, a documentary filmmaker who is putting together a movie about the song's history. The song was first written in 1893 by a teacher named Patty Smith Hill and her sister, Mildred Hill, who originally wrote it as "Good Morning to All." They published the song in a book for kindergarten teachers, and then sold the copyright to their publisher, Clayton F. Summy Co. That company then became Birch Tree Group, which was then bought by Warner/Chappell.

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Though the melody has been in the public domain for a while, the lyrics were still in contention. But U.S. District Judge George H. King ruled that Summy never got the rights to the lyrics, only the melody and piano arrangements, so the label doesn't actually have a valid copyright to the words in the song.

Barring any appeals, this means that people will no longer have to pay a licensing fee to use "Happy Birthday to You," and future lawsuits might seek refunds of the many fees Warner/Chappell has been paid over the years. "We are looking at the court's lengthy opinion and considering our options," a Warner/Chappell spokesperson said in a statement. That also means that the practice of crafting new birthday songs might come to an end.